Do Europeans hate the Brits?

[Floofydawg]

We're in Spain at the minute and have encountered some pretty hostile behaviour. Not so much from the Spanish, as we speak the language, but from other Europeans. We've been coming here many years and I've never before encountered such hostility. It got me thinking, do many Europeans dislike the Brits?

I call bullshit on this one. I'm from London and PLENTY of people have thought I'm Australian. Even people from the North of England actually. I don't believe people whose first language isn't English would reliably tell the difference between "British" and "Oz"

I can actually believe those OP. Even within the UK, there seems to a lot of anti-English sentiment at present, especially on social media where people say things they really mean because there are no consequences. I don't think Brexit has helped, then maybe it has been fuelled by the Scottish independence campaign. Then of course the British empire paints the English in a bad light and of course the horrific treatment of Ireland as mentioned (Scotland doesn't seem to be blamed for this as much, despite its participation in colonialism and slavery). Also, the behaviour of Brits abroad can be embarrassing to witness and there are more English people than Scottish or Welsh so they often get the blame.

Tourists who go on holiday to the 'Costa' aren't generally in search of authentic Spanish culture and cuisine. They want reliable sunshine and relaxation at a cheap price. That goes for tourists of all nationalities, not just the British. And yes, there are plenty of establishments catering to Dutch, Swedish, German and other tourists too. You may have seen more British establishments because there are more British tourists in Spain than any other nationality.

Also I've heard people (from Europe) muddle up Liverpudlian and Irish (Republic) accents.

There's a lot of deliberate misunderstanding going on here.

I spend a fair bit of time in French Catalonia and it's true that local people are friendlier once they realise you're Scottish. They know, not because they recognise the accent; it's because they tend to ask in a restaurant "anglaise?" and I say "écossaise" ... because I am. I don't walk in waving a saltire 😁

There is a subtle difference in the warmth of their response. That's not "crowing"; it's just a fact.

It's wrong to say that people here don't know the difference between England and Scotland. Because of their own independence debate they are very well informed.

As for sticking up for English people? If I got into a conversation and it was relevant, I would absolutely say I have some lovely English friends. I wouldn't defend English football hooligans or the awful behaviour of some Brits abroad in Spanish holiday resorts etc. But usually the comments don't go further than them saying how much they love Scotland for the mountains, the lochs .. and most of all the whisky!

We’re from the Channel Islands so speak English! We spend a lot of time in France and have met many people of different nationalities. We always make an effort to be friendly and haven’t encountered any nastiness. On being asked what part of England we are from we always make it clear we are not English as we aren’t. We have seen some pretty yobbish behaviour from English speaking people over the years so depending on the locals experience of such, it would not surprise me if some were anti English, but certainly not generally in our experience.

Isn't it great that they have you to tell them all about their own history, then? Perhaps it explains why you appear to have encountered blanket anti-Englishness during your entire period of living in Ireland, according to your wildly general claims on another thread?

No one hates the Irish because the Irish never invaded anywhere in history, because they were a small country

Also, this is arrant nonsense. Consult 19thc English newspapers with simian caricatures of Irish people. Or London newspaper coverage of the 1916 Rising. The small minority of English people who informed me in my years living in England that I was a terrorist, a feckless, superstitious, violent member of a 'backward' nation etc etc.

And now, Ireland's is certainly no longer universally regarded as harmless and sweet:

https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/2024/09/20/its-time-we-stopped-obsessing-about-being-universally-loved-because-those-days-are-gone/

More specifically the English, I’m afraid. When they hear the accent and discover that our family is Irish we instantly get better, friendlier service in many restaurants, shops etc

Same for me. They presume I'm English, then change how they speak to me on finding out I'm Irish.

We have Greek friends who live and work in a holiday town in Greece. They told us all the local businesses complain about the English specifically. It's really not fair to a whole nation of people.☹️

Well I'm Irish but also have a UK passport. In Northern Ireland we are entitled to both (I really should get an Irish passport as well given the UK's non EU status).

In terms of the OP's question, I think post Brexit there might be some hostility (though i think its negligible as I have not witnessed anything in my travels and I'm around English people alot).

Spain may be unique (if there any greater hostility) due to the documented rise in the dislike of tourists there, and the place is often flooded with Brits. I've not delved into the reasons for this but perhaps see their country being taken over. Benidorm for example, that might as well be part of Blighty such is the impact of the tourists. Generally speaking people from these isles are not great at acclimatising to the local culture. Most Europeans are multilingual, we are not.

Europe isn't one place, so I imagine that opinions on various things, including Brits, will vary from place to place. Here is my anecdotal evidence, as a Brit spending 3-6 weeks each in the following countries this year:
France - perfectly welcoming, very much appreciated French at least being attempted
Greece - very friendly, treated no differently to anyone else
Italy (Sicily) - falling over themselves friendly, was told several times that the British are their favourite visitors (could be lying of course)
Montenegro - indifferent to everyone, including Brits
Albania - treated like royalty and better than others. They love the British and couldn't tell us often enough

Yes, I pointed this out a few pages back…confusingly one poster then replied that Brits were not ‘Europeans’ though, with a deliberate emphasis on quotation marks…I have no idea what that meant though 🤣

Agreed, we are Scottish and they don't seem to mind and be more friendly when we tell them we are Scottish not English. In fact, we've been given a cuddle in one place!

Indeed, or that everyone should hate the Irish for their support of the Third Reich during WW2 (under the guise of neutrality).

I usually say I’m British or English if asked when I’m abroad. We’re off to Spain this weekend and I’m going to tell everyone I’m Welsh (despite my English upbringing, I was born in Swansea). I’m totally looking forward to the tide of fondness and affection that this revelation will unleash.

Yes I might say I'm Irish to experience the cuddles and friendliness that some have allegedly encountered. Let's all report back wirh our findings .

We have Greek friends who live and work in a holiday town in Greece. They told us all the local businesses complain about the English specifically.

I wonder how they know people are 'English specifically'?

As someone said above, unless they are native English speakers or have spent a long time in Britain, it's highly unlikely they can distinguish an English accent from a Welsh, Scottish or Irish accent. So on what basis can they tell if a given tourist is 'English specifically'?

@Gloriia ha! Mr Monkey did get an impassioned speech about how celts are cousins should all stick together (only part of which he understood) when he told the Breton owner of a creperie we went to this summer he was Irish.

This is a very relevant example, as if Irish people are getting a warmer welcome when they say they're not British, then obviously the welcome given to British people is less warm.

The poster wasn't saying this in a tone of 'sucks to you for being British' but giving you a solid example that at least one other nation gets a better welcome than the British. No need at all to say that it was a nasty post.

People ask where you are from, that’s how they know! It’s a common conversation starter when dealing with tourists.

I do find it amusing that all the people saying this never happens (warmer treatment/attitudes towards the other British nations) seem to be people who are unable experience it in the first place. You might not like that it's the case, but you have multiple people who have experienced it telling you it's the case 🤷‍♀️ I've got no skin in the game, my husband is English, and even he has remarked on it (and he's not very observant about social stuff!). It happens, whether you think it's right or not.

They can't. They assume you are English unless you ask, and you tell them you're not.

I don’t think leaving the EU helped. We are not part of the family. We seek to be different so we are set apart. However that’s political and I haven’t noticed any difference in how I’m treated but I mostly go to cities. I don’t go where huge groups of Brits go. Not my thing.

It might be an aversion to colonialism or a reaction to lager louts but I think it's more related to Brexit, myself. If Europe was a boyfriend, we dumped them. We said 'thanks, but we don't want to be in a club with you European people, we're not going to pay into the pot and we don't want your rules (and values)'. Whatever people understand about the detail of politics, they understand this, (even if just less than half of us voted to remain)

Yes, that is a Cretan thing. Because history. Obviously, the whole of Greece was occupied in WW2, but resistance- and therefore reprisals- was particularly fierce in Crete. A lot of escaping British soldiers took to the mountains with the partisans and fought with them, hence the British love (and German hate) amongst the older generations.